90-year-old Douglas vet gets his diploma

Friday

Jun 6, 2014 at 6:00 AMJun 6, 2014 at 9:14 PM

DOUGLAS — Of the dozens of high school graduates set to receive a diploma today, only one will be free of concerns about what is next. World War II veteran Robert Gautreau will get his diploma at the Douglas High School graduation.

By Brian Lee TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF

DOUGLAS — Of the dozens of high school graduates set to receive a diploma today, only one will be free of concerns about what is next.

World War II veteran Robert Gautreau will get his diploma at the Douglas High School graduation.

The 90-year-old Army veteran, who grew up in Douglas, didn't finish the 11th grade because he took a job in the mills to help his family. He was drafted into the Army a short time later, according to his son David, who is driving his father to the commencement ceremony.

Robert Gautreau, who has spent most of his life in Pennsylvania, was wounded in the Battle of the Bulge in France. He stepped on a land mine on Feb. 23, 1945, and was severely injured.

Douglas Superintendent Nancy Lane said the School Committee authorized Mr. Gautreau's diploma after being contacted by David, who wanted to give the district an opportunity to honor his father, who had always regretted not being able to finish school.

"We were more than thrilled to provide this diploma to him as a symbol of our appreciation for what he did for his country," Ms. Lane said.

Mr. Gautreau, who was awarded a Purple Heart, served in the 569th Anti-Aircraft Artillery Battalion, C Battery. His job was to shoot down enemy planes.

He and other troops were walking through the woods on their way to cross the Rhine River when he stepped on the land mine.

David said his father didn't know what he had stepped on, and no one told him he shouldn't step off the land mine, which he did.

Mr. Gautreau said medics came right away, and he spent time in hospitals in Paris and England.

"I just about lost my leg, but they saved it," Mr. Gautreau said. "I've always had trouble with it. I don't have a left hand. It's there, but I can't use it. It's just there."

He remembered in detail his time on the front line.

"We could hear all the firing, and we knew we were ready for combat," he said. "As we were going with the trucks, we looked down on the ground and I could not believe it — because bodies were all over the place. None of us could talk. I said, 'Well, maybe this is what we need. Let's get ready.'

"We fought until we got to the Rhine River and I stepped on that land mine," he said.

Mr. Gautreau was sent back to the United States on a medical ship and was treated at hospitals in New York and Framingham before settling at a military hospital in Phoenixville, Pa.

He met his late wife, Nell, who passed away in 2004, during his time at the Phoenixville hospital, and they settled in Kimberton, Pa., and had sons David and Bob.

Because of his disability, Mr. Gautreau never worked.

"I went for eight different jobs," he said. "They said I was a risk to work. So I went to see the Veterans Administration and was told the government will take care of you."

But "I had to do something," he continued.

"So I started Little League baseball," and helped start a youth league that now has more than 700 children, he said.

His advice to fellow graduates would be to go to college:

"I've been in and out of hospitals with my leg and arm and I've never had that experience."

His nephew, William J. Audette of Northbridge, said his uncle remains youthful and is hilarious when he visits family here.

During those visits, "Everyone comes to see Uncle Bob" said Mr. Audette, whose late mother, Anita M. Audette, was Robert's twin sister. She died in 2011.

"He's my hero," said Mr. Audette, himself a Vietnam War veteran. "I can't imagine what they had to go through" during the Battle of the Bulge and World War II.

"I'm so proud to have an uncle that served like he did. He's just a special person to me, and the whole family."